Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an intermediate transfer member for transfer-type image recording and a transfer-type image recording apparatus and a transfer-type image recording method using the intermediate transfer member.
Description of the Related Art
As an image recording method using an ink, a transfer-type image recording method is known. In the method, an ink is applied to an image forming surface of an intermediate transfer member to form an intermediate image, then the formed intermediate image is transferred to a recording medium, and an image is formed on the recording medium. The intermediate transfer member used in the image recording method preferably has such a characteristic that the surface thereof easily releases an intermediate image, i.e. good transferability of an intermediate image.
To achieve good transferability of an intermediate image from an intermediate transfer member to a recording medium, it has been considered to be important to reduce a surface free energy of the intermediate transfer member. On this account, the surface (surface layer part) of an intermediate transfer member has been typically made of a material having a low surface free energy, i.e. a highly water-repellent material, such as fluorine resins and silicon resins (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-182064). The intermediate transfer member surface formed of such a material has a surface free energy of about 110 degrees in terms of “contact angle for pure water”, which is a typical index of the surface free energy.
While, to achieve holding properties and transferability of an intermediate image on an intermediate transfer member, another transfer-type image recording method is disclosed. In the method, an ultraviolet curable solution layer having ink affinity and fixability is previously formed on an intermediate transfer member (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-228193). In this image recording method, an ink is applied to the curable solution layer on an intermediate transfer member to form an intermediate image, then the ultraviolet curable solution layer holding the intermediate image is transferred from the intermediate transfer member to a recording medium, and the recording medium is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to form an image.